2013 Year-In-Review: Super Bowl, LinkedIn, and Other Social Media Stats

2013 In Review 2013 was a big year for social media! Here are some highlights: Twitter’s IPO Introduction of Facebook Graph Search, Vine, and Instagram video “Selfie” was named Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year Pope Francis was Facebook’s most talked about individual in the world YouTube reached more 18 to 34 year olds […]

2013 In Review

2013 was a big year for social media! Here are some highlights:

Twitter’s IPO

Introduction of Facebook Graph Search, Vine, and Instagram video

“Selfie” was named Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year

Pope Francis was Facebook’s most talked about individual in the world

YouTube reached more 18 to 34 year olds than any cable network

38% of Super Bowl ads included hashtags visually displayed

38% of unique visits to LinkedIn were via mobile devices

231.7 million monthly active Twitter users, spent an average of 170 minutes each month on the network

63% of Facebook users visited the site at least once per day

15.8% of the total minutes spent on the Internet are on Facebook

Google+ added 25,000 new users each day (an average of 8 per second!)

The year’s top hashtag on Instagram was #love, followed closely by #friends, #food, #fashion, and #selfie

We know the rise of social media will continue into 2014, and can’t wait for the changes the new year will bring!

Twitter Update Encourages More Photos

A small Twitter update is sending a strong message regarding how the company expects users to tweet moving forward. A change to Twitter’s iOS app on Monday automatically surfaces the user’s photo gallery instead of a keyboard when the user begins to compose a tweet. If a user does not want to include a photo, she can tap on the blank text box and the photo gallery will be replaced with the traditional keyboard. This change is now the default for users that open a new tweet within the mobile app; users cannot change the default back to a keyboard at this time, according to a Twitter spokesperson.

The change is a small one, but continues to prove the importance of photos to the social media company. With the success of apps that place a strong focus on photos, like Snapchat and Instagram, Twitter’s subtle change is a reminder that the company wants users to continue sharing photos, first and foremost.

What’s Trending

1/3 Of Women In The US Use Pinterest

Pinterest‘s popularity in the United States has surged in the last year, particularly among women, according to a new study. The social bookmarking service is now used by more than one-fifth (21%) of American adults, up from 15% a year earlier, according to a survey of U.S. social networking habits from Pew Research. That puts Pinterest slightly ahead of Twitter and Instagram, though all three are well behind Facebook. Pew’s data suggests that Pinterest has experienced strong growth among women in particular. One-third of U.S. women now use Pinterest, up from 25% as reported in a similar study in February. Just 8% of men use Pinterest, though that’s up from 5% previously.

Instagram Gets Blocked, Then Unblocked In Iran

For approximately 12 hours, Instagram became the latest apparent victim of Iran‘s Internet censorship system commonly known as the “Filternet.” The blocking of Instagram was initially reported by Iranian netizens early Sunday, and later confirmed by independent researchers. Instagram appeared to be the latest casualty of Iran’s most recent online clampdown – despite promises of more Internet freedom by the new government of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Then just a few hours later, the photo-sharing network was unblocked, and Iranian officials denied any wrongdoing.

Facebook In 2014: Turning Ten

Put on your party hats and string up the banners: Facebook celebrates its 10th birthday in 2014. You’d be hard pressed to find a more popular, yet polarizing, service than Facebook over the last decade. In less than 10 years, Facebook has collected a billion-plus users, hosted a presidential Town Hall, been the topic of a major motion film, and connected people from every corner of the planet. Its global brand recognition may be the best in the tech world, rivaling only Google and Apple, both of which had a substantial head start. And while 2014 is just another year for the social media giant to collect users, data, and revenues, it’s also a reminder of how far Facebook has come – and how quickly the tech world evolves.